A 46-year-old Lakeland, Florida, mother and her 22-year-old son each face incest charges after a domestic battery call unraveled a years-long sexual relationship that the woman's own husband says he never knew about.

Christina Clemens called police to report that her son, Shane Clemens, had assaulted her. Deputies arrested Shane for domestic battery. But the arrest set off a chain of disclosures that turned a routine domestic violence call into one of the more disturbing criminal cases Polk County has seen in recent memory.

Shane Clemens, angry that his mother had called the police, told deputies he had been in a sexual relationship with her since he was 18 years old. Investigators then questioned Christina, who confirmed the relationship to detectives without hesitation. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd laid out the details in a video address released on a Wednesday.

Judd described Shane's disclosure bluntly:

"So he got mad because she called and we arrested him for hitting mama. And then he said, 'Well, I'll tell you what, I've been having sex with my mama since I was 18 years old.'"

When investigators confronted Christina with her son's statement, she did not deny it. She quantified it.

Judd relayed her response:

"So we asked mama, 'Have you been having sex with your son since he was 18?' She says, 'Only about 100 times. I didn't stutter', that's what she told us."

Shane Clemens held without bond while his mother walked free on $6,250

Christina Clemens now faces one count of incest, one count of living in open adultery, and one count of domestic battery, per Polk County jail records. She was released on a total bond of $6,250 on Sept. 4.

Shane Clemens faces one count of incest and one count of domestic violence battery. Unlike his mother, he remains held without bond. The disparity in bond treatment has not been publicly explained in available court records.

The case echoes the kind of family-centered criminal depravity that continues to surface across the state. A Florida pastor was recently charged with sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy while concealing his own HIV-positive status, another case in which a trusted figure allegedly exploited someone in his care.

Sheriff Judd, known for his blunt public commentary on criminal cases in Polk County, did not hold back. As Fox News reported, Judd stated in his video address:

"What else can you say? That's nasty. That's nasty, and it's illegal."

Judd also noted the charges plainly: "They got charged with incest. She got charged with adultery. It's still on the books, you know?"

Christina's husband said the couple were 'happily married', but had suspicions

Investigators also spoke with Christina Clemens's husband, whose name has not been publicly released. He told detectives the couple were "happily married" and living together throughout the period in which his wife was allegedly having sex with their son.

He said he did not know about the sexual relationship. But he acknowledged being "a little suspicious" because Christina and Shane "used to go into the master bedroom together and lock the door," as Judd recounted. Those statements were relayed secondhand through the sheriff's account, not directly quoted from the husband.

The husband's statements raise an obvious question that remains unanswered: why suspicion alone never prompted him to act or report. But the criminal liability, as charged, falls squarely on Christina and Shane Clemens.

Cases involving the violation of the most basic family trust seem to arrive with grim regularity. A Tennessee pastor was recently sentenced to life in prison for raping three girls under the age of eight, crimes his wife allegedly helped conceal.

A domestic battery call pulled the whole story into the open

The timeline, as Judd described it, began with a domestic dispute. Christina called police and accused Shane of assaulting her. Deputies responded and arrested Shane for battery. It was only after the arrest, apparently driven by anger at his mother for calling police, that Shane disclosed the sexual relationship to law enforcement.

That disclosure triggered the broader investigation. Investigators questioned Christina, who confirmed the relationship and the approximate number of encounters. They then interviewed her husband, who described his limited awareness.

Shane told investigators the relationship began when he was 18. He is now 22. Christina is 46. Neither has entered a plea, and no case number or court filing has been made publicly available in the reporting on this case.

Disturbing family crime cases have drawn national attention with increasing frequency. An 11-year-old girl was arrested in the fatal shooting of her 15-year-old brother in Edmond, Oklahoma, in another case that stunned a community.

Breitbart reported on the case as well, confirming the core details: Shane's initial arrest for battery, his disclosure to deputies, and Christina's confirmation of approximately 100 sexual encounters.

Incest is a felony in Florida. Living in open adultery, while less commonly prosecuted, remains a criminal offense under state law. Christina Clemens faces three separate charges; Shane faces two. The fact that Christina walked out on bond while Shane remains locked up without bond is a detail the courts have not publicly addressed.

High-profile criminal cases with family betrayal at their center, like the conviction in the roadside murder of Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan, remind the public that the people closest to victims are often the ones responsible for the worst harm.

Judd's video laid the case bare for the public

Sheriff Judd's decision to address the case publicly via video, posted to the Polk County Sheriff's Office Facebook page, followed a pattern he has established over years of high-profile cases. Judd did not soften the details. He walked through the sequence of events, the battery call, Shane's angry disclosure, Christina's confirmation, and the husband's belated suspicions, in plain, direct language.

Several questions remain unanswered. No absolute date has been provided for the initial domestic assault call. The year of Christina's Sept. 4 bond release has not been specified in available reporting. And it is unclear whether the domestic battery charge Shane faces is a separate count from his original arrest or the same charge carried forward.

Neither Christina nor Shane Clemens has entered a plea. No defense attorney statements have been made public.

When the law has to sort out a mother who admits, proudly, by her own account, to a sexual relationship with her own son, the system is dealing with a level of moral collapse that no statute was designed to anticipate. The charges are on the books. Whether the consequences will match the gravity of the conduct is now up to Polk County's courts.